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Prepare for the poster/presentation/talk
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*~*~*~*Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2015-2016*~*~*~*
Started by Ismet
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If the activities I'm trying to cut all led to leadership and community service, how many hours would you say is too low to be significant? Thanks for your help!
I suggest not including a Conferences Attended space when the veue of the Poster/Presentation is already clear from the PP entry. It isn't necessary to include length of the conference.
Prep time goes with the Research entry.
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Rather than cutting based on number of hours, consider pruning by lesser quality of leadership and lower level of accomplishment.
I'm going to respond to you here, so as not to interrupt the flow of someone else's thread. Keep in mind that there is no "one right way" to enter Experiences, so there will be a variety of approaches, all of which are acceptable, but some of which might have a better strategic value.
IMO, if you list evidence of research productivity, aka Posters/Presentations, under Conferences Attended, it will have less impact. Attending a conference for educational purposes (the assumption when you use this tag) adds little value to your application.
See my comments on listing Research-related topics in post #3, item 20.
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Ah thank you! I was not aware that "conferences attended" meant educational conferences. I guess if it's a research conference I should list it under Posters/Presentations instead....
If we have more than 1 poster/presentation, should we separate them out or can we just have one heading "Posters/presentations" and then list the posters in the experience description? I just don't have much room to afford to separate each out but if it's more impactful then I will further cut down some more activities. Thanks
Research conferences ARE educational, as one usually listens to others' presentations.
It's fine to group Posters and Presentations into one space, noting the exceptions I mention here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...-tips-thread-2015-2016.1130356/#post-16376641
I have a similar situation - 7 jobs worked during and after college between 2003 and 2010. Once I have typed up the job titles, date spans, approximated hours, and contact name and phone number, I only have 70 characters remaining for any sort of description of my responsibilities, etc. I worry that the lack of description would make listing all of this useless in the end. Would it be possible instead to just give job titles and approximate hours for each, actually write something brief about these experiences, and say that contact information for each of these jobs is available upon request? I will still have a contact name and information for the overall activity (one of the jobs I'm listing), just would be omitting that info for the other 6 positions.
@Catalystik, in a previous post in this huge thread, you said that we didn't have to separate out future/past hours. I just want to confirm: is it ok if we have "Start Date-Expected End Date and the total number of hours I expect to complete without differentiating how many are in the past and how many are in the future?" or is that against the rules?
Consider this: If you are a nontraditional applicant who graduated 3 -4 years ago, then emphasize the jobs you've held since then, with a contact provided, and summarize the jobs from the college years with a narrative, like, "In addition to the above, during college I consistently worked 10 hours a week in food service." Or, "During college, I held a 40 hour/week job every summer in construction, as a waitperson, or as a pet sitter. Details available on request." This would free up more characters for recent work description and accomplishments that adcomms will tend to care more about. If this scenario doesn't fit your situation, feel free to give more detail.
It is not against the rules. You are not required to differentiate between completed and future hours.
I'm a nontrad career changer that graduated 6 years ago. I am emphasizing medical experience since the career change (in a variety of entries) and have one entry for the long-term job I held before changing careers. Then there are 7 other more random jobs before that (full-time summers during college and short-term positions after graduation) in customer service, childcare, etc. None of these are directly relevant to medicine, nor do I want to emphasize any of them individually, but I do want to show the overall amount of work experience (over 4000 hours) and touch on qualities like experience working with the general public, types of responsibilities, etc. in a general way. I also want to point these experiences out in order to fill in the gaps in my work/educational history that would otherwise exist if I didn't mention them at all. I hope this clarifies the issue for you a little better and thanks for your help!
I have been working at a restaurant for 8 years now, started as a crew member while in high school then promoted to a manager while in college. I want to list it as one of my most meaningful experiences as i feel it has taught me so much such as learning how to be an effective team member, leadership, working with a diverse group of people, multitasking abilities etc. I feel it has been a big part of my life, do you think it's a good idea or should I just list it as a paid experience?
I think that your solution to the space limitation issue (expressed above) will work fine, considering the amount of time that has passed since you graduated. And because you have another entry for the most-recent long-term position. I was concerned that you intended to cram everything into a single space.
I think it's a good choice for a Most Meaningful essay as this will give you the space to highlight many qualities important for a future physician.
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Great, thanks for the feedback!
Thank You!
When will adcoms verify hours and participation in activities (if they do)?
I'm stuck in my lab through the summer because my PI is essentially blackmailing me and I fear if I leave the lab, he'll intentionally dispute my hours worked or somesuch other to 'punish' me. I have 600+ hours over a span of 1.5 years, but am not getting a letter from the PI.
When would be a 'safe' time to quit?
I'm stuck in my lab through the summer because my PI is essentially blackmailing me and I fear if I leave the lab, he'll intentionally dispute my hours worked or somesuch other to 'punish' me. I have 600+ hours over a span of 1.5 years, but am not getting a letter from the PI.
When would be a 'safe' time to quit?
I suppose it's too late to say that the PI need not have been your contact for this activity. A PhD candidate, lab coordinator, or office staffer would have done as well.
1) The variation from school to school is immense. Some maybe never check. Some check everything. Most probably only check if something seems fishy or too amazing to believe. Some will make calls before using resources to interview you. Some will wait to verify activities until after the interview when they are sure you're a viable candidate, which could be late next spring. And at least one drags out the calls into the time after med school starts.
2) If you consider every potential timeline, it will never be "safe," but some of those possibilities have a small likelihood of ever happening.
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Getting ready to submit and I looked at how the work/activities section came up after I hit print. All of my attempts at formatting and using bullet points are gone. It's all running together, even paragraphs that I separated. Is there a better way to format so it's comprehensible?
You are reviewing your application from the wrong location. Instead, go to Main Menu>Print Application (on the right side)>PDF view. That's how adcomms will see it.
Looks great from that view! Finally submitted. Thanks Catalystik for all your help!
Time for another visit to this thread. I had a job as a Personal Care Assistant. Originally, I thought it was medical because I'm a registered health care provider. I'm having second thoughts about this because I haven't done anything in a hospital or clinic, or with anyone who was a patient at the time.
I think the relevance to medicine is apparent whether or not it's categorized as clinical but I'd like to be sure of how to list it.
I think the relevance to medicine is apparent whether or not it's categorized as clinical but I'd like to be sure of how to list it.
1. If we had a cashier job at a Grocery store our freshman summer, a Wendys cashier job our sophomore summer, should we include this in the AMCAS? Or does it look we are just filling for the 15 activities? I only have one spot left, would these be worthwhile?
2. I was the president and founder of a club that centered on teaching others basic lifts in the gym, bringing in guest speakers to talk about health and nutrition, and hosted campus wide events that were competitions as a means to provide motivation throughout the semester to work out. How do I classify this activity, is it volunteering? It is a school affiliated club.
3. What is a multicultural club listed under? This club centered on promoting the South Asian culture on campus, is this an extracurricular activity?
4. For academic achievement, when is a description needed. Should we specify reqs for Phi Beta Kappa, Deans List, Departmental Honors? Can we list the specific research grants here? Is it beneficial to list descriptions, unlikely I will be to fit all awards in one slot if descriptions are needed
2. I was the president and founder of a club that centered on teaching others basic lifts in the gym, bringing in guest speakers to talk about health and nutrition, and hosted campus wide events that were competitions as a means to provide motivation throughout the semester to work out. How do I classify this activity, is it volunteering? It is a school affiliated club.
3. What is a multicultural club listed under? This club centered on promoting the South Asian culture on campus, is this an extracurricular activity?
4. For academic achievement, when is a description needed. Should we specify reqs for Phi Beta Kappa, Deans List, Departmental Honors? Can we list the specific research grants here? Is it beneficial to list descriptions, unlikely I will be to fit all awards in one slot if descriptions are needed
Combine them as a "Customer Service Representative" position and list them in the description. Work experience is always meaningful.
so I have a basic question
I know there are 15 categories given
So is it set up like A or B
A. You can use all 15 categories and list as much as you want and explain in each category
B. You paste for example Shadowing #1 Shadowing #2 Volunteer #1 Volunteer #2 and thats already 4 used out of 15 slots available
I know there are 15 categories given
So is it set up like A or B
A. You can use all 15 categories and list as much as you want and explain in each category
B. You paste for example Shadowing #1 Shadowing #2 Volunteer #1 Volunteer #2 and thats already 4 used out of 15 slots available
I never replied to this! 😳 Thank you for answering, there were three questions I wanted a more definitive answer so I included them in my post above. Thanks again though
Thank you!
If you could be specific about your exact role, I can be more helpful.
1) Short-term employment can be grouped into one spot with a title that covers all of them. Yes, include you summer jobs.
2) Leadership.
3) Extracurricular is fine.
4) You dont need descriptions for those, but if space allows, list the criteria, if you like. They can vary among schools.
Research grants are better left with the affiliated Research entry.
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Group your Shadowing. Try to use as many categories as possible. It's fine to have more than one per category. Read the FAQ in post 2&3 of this thread.
Thank you cataystik! However in reference to number 2, my non-clinical volunteering might be lacking. For that reason would it be beneficial to include it as volunteering? How do schools calculate volunteering hours? Or is it a more holistic approach as in are you making the attempt to help others?
1) If you can spin it as volunteering, by all means do so, if that's where you're lacking.
2) I'm not clear on what you're asking. You calculate the volunteer hours you'll list on the application.
I worked primarily with young adults with autism and down syndrome. I got them out into the community to work on social interaction. I also took a few clients to the gym on a regular basis. A lot of it was redirecting behaviors and helping them to recognize bad decisions. I worked with them in their family's house or out in the community somewhere. I didn't handle medications or anything like that. Hope this was specific enough!
All active clinical experience doesn't take place in hospitals or clinics, examples being EMT, PT, OT, clinical psychologists, special camp environments, battle field medic, and home hospice. If you can emphasize the therapeutic interventions and socialization strategies as part of your job (and not the locale so much), I think you could spin this as clinical, if you need to.
If you have sufficient active medical experience and decide to categorize it as nonclinical, but describe it as I've suggested, I think a good number of adcomms will mentally assign it as clinically significant regardless.
If you prefer it to be nonmedical, then spin it differently and talk more about the gym.
wait so i just listed hours and specialties in my shadowing slot. should i be including a description of what i did (essentially nothing) or its impact/influence? i really don't have anything to say except for i saw what a day in the life of a physician is.
See post #359 for an example. Adcomms know what shadowing is, so a description isn't needed. Nor is mention of your role. A few highlights and maybe impact could be included if you have space. Don't forget to include contacts, unless the header information applies to them all.
So I have been working at a furniture manufacturer for about 8 years now. I started off at a low level position (throughout college) and worked my way to production manager/supervisor position (4 years of experience). I am in charge of making sure orders are completed, inform fellow employees on what the goals for the day are, quality control, and direct weekly meetings.
1) Can I list manager/supervisor position under a leadership category and leave my lower level position under paid employment/non medical?
2) Or do I list them under Paid employment and select the repeated option for the leadership portion? Also write under experience name: title/leadership?
3) Or doesn't fall into leadership category and I should list work under one category?
1) Can I list manager/supervisor position under a leadership category and leave my lower level position under paid employment/non medical?
2) Or do I list them under Paid employment and select the repeated option for the leadership portion? Also write under experience name: title/leadership?
3) Or doesn't fall into leadership category and I should list work under one category?
Often one's choices are driven by number of spaces remaining. If you can do it comfortably without squeezing out elements required/expected by med schools,, I'd pick option #1, maybe linking the two entries by a common element in the title you choose for the two activities (like the name of or type of business).
Thanks for your input! I will try that out.
Is it ok if we don't have any activities grouped as "Extracurricular"? Or is Extracurricular only for organizations we participated in but didn't have a leadership role in?
Also, if we tutored for money, can that be grouped as teaching and not job/employment? Does one label carry greater weight?
Also, if we tutored for money, can that be grouped as teaching and not job/employment? Does one label carry greater weight?
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Thank you, that was very helpful.
1) It's fine not to have an activity labeled as Extracurricular.
2) Teaching is fine. You can make it evident that the actvity was paid within the narrative or by the title you pick.
Should we list amount of money received for research fellowships?
It isn't considered inappropriate to do so, but it isn't necessary either.
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Thanks! Do we also have to write out acronyms? For example, if it's something like CDC or NIH or WHO do we still have to write out the acronyms?
It would be preferred to spell it out, but for those acronyms at least, most screeners (not all of whom are MDs or PhDs) will know what you're talking about.
Can we list ourself as a contact if there really is no one else?
Yes.
How should I indicate that I am continuing an activity? Previous posts said to use the "repeated" function but the system won't let me enter in a date such as "August 2015-June 2016".
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